BWH Nursing Restructures Its Management
Over the course of the last few years, Nancy Kruger, RN, DNSc, chief nursing officer and vice president of Patient Care Services, along with other members of Nursing leadership became increasingly aware that the existing nursing management structure in the Tower needed to be reevaluated.
That model, which typically included one nurse manager and two or three assistant nurse managers overseeing between 100 and 200 staff and four to six pods, had become increasingly inefficient and cumbersome in light of the complex and highly dynamic patient care environment. In particular, there was concern that staff did not have strong relationships with their managers; that managers were not able to adequately monitor and assess practice; and that managers were overburdened by the very large scope of their responsibility. Kruger and leadership began to plan for a better management model to ensure the consistent delivery of high quality care by professional nurses and support staff.
As a result, the Nursing Executive Board decided to implement a new management model in the Tower in February. In this new model, nurse managers now typically cover two pods (about 30 beds) and manage between 45 and 65 full time employees. As a result, additional managers have been hired and most of the assistant managers were elevated to manager level. However, General Medical Services and Cardiology continue to have a nurse manager-assistant nurse manager model. There are now 25 nurse managers and two assistant nurse managers in the Tower. The restructuring did not involve the OR, CWN or Ambulatory.
Such restructuring led to changes at the director level as well. The positions of director of Surgical Nursing and director of Medical/Cardiac Nursing were created. Terry Kahlert, RN, MS assumed the position of director of Medical/Cardiac Nursing; Barbara Bauman, RN, MS, MPA, was hired as director of Surgical Nursing; Paula Gillette, RN, MS remained director of CWN; Pat Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, remained as director of Hematology/ Oncology; Nancy Hickey, RN, MS, remained as director of Ambulatory; and Peggy Doyle, RN, MS remained as director of the Operating Room.
“In addition to the nursing leadership restructuring aligning us more appropriately with other academic teaching hospitals, it will consistently help our managers be more effective with a more manageable scope of responsibility,” said Kruger. “The restructuring is also a move that will be more compatible with plans for the regionalization of patient care in the Tower,” she added.